1.
Recognize that keeping firearms in your home may put you at legal risk
as well as exposing you and your family to physical risk. In many
states, parents can be held liable for their children's actions,
including inappropriate use of firearms. If you do choose to keep
firearms at home, ensure that they are securely locked, that ammunition
is locked and stored separately, and that children know weapons are
never to be touched without your express permission and supervision.

2.
Take an active role in your children's schools. Talk regularly with
teachers and staff. Volunteer in the classroom or library, or in
after-school activities. Work with parent-teacher-student organizations.

3.
Act as role models. Settle your own conflicts peacefully and manage
anger without violence.

4.
Listen to and talk with your children regularly. Find out what they're
thinking on all kinds of topics. Create an opportunity for two-way
conversation, which may mean foregoing judgments or pronouncements.
This kind of communication should be a daily habit, not a reaction to
crisis.

5.
Set clear limits on behaviors in advance. Discuss punishments and
rewards in advance, too. Disciplining with consistency helps teach
self-discipline, a skill your children can use for the rest of their
lives.

6.
Communicate clearly on the violence issue. Explain that you don't
accept and won't tolerate violent behavior. Discuss what violence is
and is not. Answer questions thoughtfully. Listen to children's ideas
and concerns. They may bring up small problems that can easily be
solved now, problems that could become worse if allowed to fester.

7.
Help your children learn how to examine and find solutions to problems.
Kids who know how to approach a problem and resolve it effectively are
less likely to be angry, frustrated, or violent. Take advantage of
"teachable moments" to help your child understand and apply these and
other skills.

8.
Discourage name-calling and teasing. These behaviors often escalate
into fist fights (or worse). Whether the teaser is violent or not, the
victim may see violence as the only way to stop it.

9.
Insist on knowing your children's friends, whereabouts, and activities.
It's your right. Make your home an inviting and pleasant place for your
children and their friends; it's easier to know what they're up to when
they're around. Know how to spot signs of troubling behavior in
kids-yours and others.

10.
Join your school's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and work with other
parents to develop standards for school-related events, acceptable
out-of-school activities and places, and required adult supervision.
Support each other in enforcing these standards.

11.
Make it clear that you support school policies and rules that help
create and sustain a safe place for all students to learn. If your
child feels a rule is wrong, discuss his or her reasons and what rule
might work better.

12.
Join up with other parents, through school and neighborhood
associations, religious organizations, civic groups, and youth activity
groups. Talk with each other about violence problems, concerns about
youth in the community, sources of help to strengthen and sharpen
parenting skills, and similar issues.

What Students Can Do:

1.Refuse
to bring a weapon to school, refuse to carry a weapon for another, and refuse
to keep silent about those who carry weapons.

2.Report
any crime immediately to school authorities or school police.

3.Report
suspicious or worrisome behavior or talk by other students to a teacher

or counselor at your school. You may save
someone's life.

4.Learn
how to manage your own anger effectively. Find out ways to settle arguments by
talking it out, working it out, or walking away rather than fighting.

5.Help
others settle disputes peacefully. Start or join a peer mediation program, in
which trained students help classmates find ways to settle arguments without
fists or weapons.

6.Mentor
a younger student and be a role model and friend.You can make it easier for a younger person
to adjust to school and ask for help.

7.Start
a school crime watch. Consider including a student patrol that helps keep an
eye on corridors, parking lots, and groups, and a way for students to report concerns
anonymously.

8.Ask
each student activity or club to adopt an anti-violence theme. The newspaper
could run how-to stories on violence prevention; the art club could illustrate
costs of violence. Career clubs could investigate how violence affects their occupational
goals. Sports teams could address ways to reduce violence that's not part of
the game plan.

9.Welcome
new students and help them feel at home in your school. Introduce them to other
students. Get to know at least one student unfamiliar to you each week.

10. Start (or sign up for) a "peace
pledge" campaign, in which students promise to settle disagreements
without violence, to reject weapons, and to work toward a safe campus for all.
Try for 100% participation.

11.Take
pride and responsibility for your school.Each one of us plays a part in school safety.Be a part of the solution!